Cellarius Launch Film
The Problem: ConsenSys, developer of cryptocurrency Ethereum, was looking to launch a new Intellectual Property run on blockchain technology.
The Action: I concepted, wrote, directed, and edited the first film that launched the Cellarius IP universe.
The Result: The film launched a series of narrative spinoff projects and short films, gaining Cellarius thousands of followers.
Building a new IP universe from the ground up
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
The Process
The ConsenSys team had fully fleshed out a world with a comprehensive, enticing backstory, but they weren’t sure how to launch it with their first story. I reviewed their massive universe guide and generated the ideas that became the launch film of the franchise.
After the script was approved, we jumped into storyboarding, designing the characters and the imaginative sci-fi environments they would inhabit at the same time.
Timing out the film
The next stage of the film was to build the animatic, developing the plan for pacing, acting, camera moves, and other major cinematic elements.
Concept Art
The team behind Cellarius was sold on the style of 3D camera projection, projecting 2D paintings onto 3D models and animating them. It’s a complex and sophisticated technique, requiring specialists in concept art and in 3D animation.
We assembled an exceptional team of artists that were able to design a world and characters that fit the story and the Cellarius universe.
Animation
The 3D camera projection technique is extremely time-intensive, and our production timeline was very short (about three months for the entire film from concept to completion). So we broke up the shots among a large team of illustrators and designers, all spread out across the country.
I oversaw the cohesive vision of the piece, providing art direction, acting reference for the characters, and final oversight of all shots.
Maintaining consistency
One of the greatest challenges with this project was maintaining a consistent visual look across the various illustrators. Since our timeline was extremely tight, we had to develop a lot of the design and visual look as we were in production.
We had our lead artist do a final re-paint pass over all the illustrations to make sure the painting style was consistent throughout. We also had our lead compositor add a layer of cohesive visual effects to ensure that the look and feel of the animation was consistent from shot to shot.
